2.05.2016

Nacho Bar

All right I have a confession to make, I don’t really follow football or even understand the rules of the game but, it’s not written anywhere that you must love football in order to have nachos during the game. If that was the case, I would totally fake my love for football over these nachos.

With that off my chest, I think the best and easiest way to relax during the game is to have a build-your-own-nachos bar. Most people love interacting with food and this is a great way to entertain and have fun at the same time. Layered with so many different textures and flavors, nachos is a meal on it's own. Crunchy chips, velvety cheese sauce, fresh vegetables, refried beans and the list goes on. Let’s talk about the cheese sauce. It is so good and smooth that you will want to use it as a dip.

What makes it so much fun is that you can add anything on top. I kept my recipe meat-less but you can add anything from shredded chicken to chorizo. Yes, I said chorizo, I’ve done it before. Don’t judge. Either way, here are the recipes, happy game!

Toppings:

Cheese sauce (recipe below)

Guacamole (recipe below)

Refried beans (recipe below)

Pico de gallo (recipe bellow)

Chopped red onions

sour cream

pickled jalapeños

Your favorite chips

Cheese sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purposed flour

2 cups whole milk

8oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon sweet, smoked paprika

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan then add the flour. Whisk well until smooth and it turns into a blond paste. Add the milk and keep whisking until the mixture is smooth. Once the milk starts to boil lower the heat and simmer for one minute then add the cheese. Whisk until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth, it should happen pretty quickly. Once smooth, add the salt, cayenne pepper and paprika. Serve immediately as the sauce will get firm when it cools down.

Guacamole:

3 ripe avocados, halved, seeded and peeled

The juice of 1 lime

1 small red onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1 tomato, seeded and diced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Add the avocados and lime juice to a bowl. Using a potato masher or a fork, mash the avocados. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Cover it and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

Refried beans:

3 tablespoon canola oil

1 small onion, sliced

2 cups cooked black beans

In a skillet, heat the oil and add the onions. Cook the onions for 5 minutes then add the beans. Stir gently, we want to keep the beans whole. Fry for 3 minutes or until any liquid evaporates.

Pico de gallo:

3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 small green bell papers, diced

The juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving.